Summary: Panchanga- Tantra
The Magic of the Indian Calendar System
Regulagedda Akshay
The National University of Singapore
Panchanga- Tantra: The Magic of the Indian Calendar System / 1
Foreword to the Second Edition
The fable of Apara Ganita and the Mystical Garden of Enchanted Numbers is
obviously fictional. The inspiration is Leelavati Ganitam, a chapter in the ancient
mathematical treatise, the Siddhanta Siromani, written by Bhaskaracharya in 1150CE.
The Leelavati Ganitam is fascinating not only for its treatment of indeterminate analysis
and a method to solve Pell's Equation, but also, as a Canadian university's website on
mathematical history puts it, for its poetic conversation between the narrator and a
narratee named Leelavati1
. The similarity between this poetic construct and the
conversation between Apara Ganita and the dwara palika is probably noticeable.
Frame stories are not common for scientific research papers, but they certainly
have a historical precedent.
1
"Bhaskaracharya", History of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University, (21st September, 2002.)